Alperen Sengun joined Hakeem Olajuwon and Yao Ming in an exclusive statistical club, while Fred VanVleet picked up a nickname previously reserved for David Robinson.
The Houston Rockets are rolling, with Sengun further enhancing his reputation among the league’s elite big men and VanVleet providing his own talking point ahead of Sunday’s interconference clash against the host Washington Wizards.
Sengun dominated Friday’s 125-118 NBA Cup victory over the visiting Utah Jazz, finishing with 43 points, 12 rebounds and five assists while shooting 17-of-24 (70.8%) from the floor in Houston’s third straight win.
He became the third player in franchise history, joining Olajuwon and Ming, to record at least 40 points, 10 rebounds and five assists while shooting better than 70% in a game.
“It means a lot,” Sengun said of joining such esteemed company. “The hard work is paying off. Of course it’s always nice to see my name around those people. I really appreciate it.”
While Sengun’s historic performance captured the headlines, VanVleet’s third-quarter cameo helped get the Rockets back on track after they lost the lead. He scored 10 of his 17 points in the period.
VanVleet appeared to yell at his teammates during that stretch, and it had the desired effect.
“He was pissed off with the unit that was in,” Houston coach Ime Udoka said. “(He) kind of went off on everybody, fired himself up, brought the juice and the energy, so we ran him a little bit longer in the third … loved the energy he brought.”
VanVleet’s show of leadership not only revived the Rockets but also earned him a new moniker.
“We call him ‘Admiral’ for a reason,” Sengun said. “He comes out there, wakes everybody up, plays his butt off and helps everybody.”
VanVleet, who missed all of last season with torn ACL and meniscus injuries in his right knee, isn’t so sure about the new nickname.
“The ‘Admiral’ is crazy — that’s David Robinson,” he responded. “I thought ‘General’ was good enough, (but) he (Sengun) took it a step further to the ‘Admiral’ … to have the respect of the guys means the world to me. ‘Admiral’ is crazy though, I don’t know about that one.”
One of Sengun’s backups, Clint Capela (ankle), has been ruled out, while the other, Steven Adams (calf), is probable against the Wizards, who are coming off a heartbreaking 144-140 double-overtime loss to the Detroit Pistons.
“(I) liked our fight (Thursday),” Washington coach Brian Keefe said. “Liked our resilience coming off a long trip. Obviously, (on the) second night of a back-to-back, our guys dug in and found ways to keep that game in reach and then we made some big plays to drive that game into overtime. Great growth by our team.”
Trae Young (37 points, 14 assists), Anthony Davis (30 points, 15 rebounds) and Alex Sarr (30 points, nine rebounds) turned in strong performances for the Wizards but couldn’t prevent their losing streak from reaching six games. Sarr is questionable for Sunday with an illness.
“It’s definitely tough when you don’t win a game like that when you play so well like we did,” Young said after recording his 200th career 20-point, 10-assist double-double. “But if we continue to play like this, I can see ourselves winning a lot of games.”
The regular-season series is tied at 82 wins apiece, although Washington has lost the past seven meetings, last winning on Jan. 25, 2023.
